Monthly Archives: March 2012

Minor League Workgroups (21March2012)

Spring Training 2012

Thanks to reader “gkjdk” for taking a picture of the work groups yesterday and sending it my way. Remember, these groups aren’t hard and fast groupings of where prospects will start, but they do give us some idea how the org feels about particular guys and how advanced/ready they are. Click this link, the photo is too big to display.

Just a few things I find interesting:

* Jiwan James is working out with Group 1, and Tyson Gillies is in Group 2.
* Miguel Alvarez is in group 2, after struggling last year at Lakewood
* Kevin Walter is in group 5

Tell me what jumps out at you.

More Cuts

Other Stuff

The Phils annouced four additonal roster moves this morning, none especially surprising.  Optioned were RP Michael Schwimer along with RP Phillipe Aumont.  Re-Assigned were pitchers Jeremy Horst and David Purcey.  All should play pivotal roles in Lehigh Valley this year and I would expect major league time this year from at least two of the four above.

Freddy Galvis to start at 2B on Opening Day

Galvis, Freddy

Well, this is some way to start your Monday, eh? The news on Chase Utley isn’t good, and it appears the team is ready to turn to Galvis at 2B, a position he hasn’t played much at all outside of a few spring training appearances. So what should we expect from him? It’s hard to say. As I covered in my Top 30 writeup on Galvis, his 2011 offensive performance essentially came out of nowhere, as he made big gains in all areas. Normally when you see steady growth, you expect bumps along the way, but the grow Galvis experienced in 2011 was sudden. Could he continue to grow rapidly, even at the major league level? It’s possible. There will certainly be a learning curve here, and he’ll go through rough stretches as he adjusts. But we know he’s one of the best defenders in the minor leagues, and his reactions, soft hands, and solid arm should play well at 2B. I think it’s likely that he’s nothing more than a .240-.250 hitter early on, but capable of driving the ball in the gaps and as he adjusts, his numbers should tick up. More importantly, for a team that will need to save runs, his glove could be a difference maker.

For those of you new to the site looking for info on Galvis, you can see his profile page here and also my writeup on him in my Top 30 prospects list.

Spring Training Discussion, week of 19 March

Spring Training 2012

If anyone is still in Clearwater, I’d much appreciate you going and picking up the minor league work groups sheet and scanning/emailing it to me. Thanks!

Minor League Releases

Other Stuff

The minor league numbers game has resulted in several early releases from Minor League camp. Included among those released this weekend were OF Brian Gump, SS Alan Schoenberger, P Ryan Feireabend and P Jesus Pirela. More news as it rolls in….

First Hand Report, 18 March 2012

Scouting Reports, Spring Training 2012

Thanks to Murray for this quick first hand summary. Enjoy.

Good time at the minor league complex today. In the CWater game, Colvin pitched very well, allowing one run but threw a good fastball and a very good curve. He is definitely in much better shape than last year, having dropped some weight. Their lineup was Myers 8, Eldemire 9, Thome 3, Franco 5, Altherr 7, Rupp 2, Pointer dh (he was originally batting 3rd before Thome came), T Greene 6, Ford 4. Noteworthy: Eldemire said he feels great, swung the bat well, and is much faster than I thought. T Greene looked good but is young and very thin. Franco had two hits (batting 4th!) and looked very good at 3rd. Malcolm played 2nd for half the game and looked good to me. Morgado did fine. Pettis closed and looked very good. In the LWood game, Lino started and looked just ok with some control issues. Lineup was Quinn 6 (looks 16! he’s very fast but didn’t do much), Hudson 8 (looked ok), Walding 5 (batted 3rd and looked very good with a couple hits), L Greene dh (he’s huge – hit some balls hard and ran ok), Duffy 3 (in MUCH better shape than last year and hit the ball very well), Logan Moore 2, Numata dh (looked over matched), Amaro 7, Cardozzo 4. Musser pitched 2 good innings but gave up a long homer. Best was ok. Nick Hernandez told me he’s hoping to pitch in CWater by the all star break. As in previous years, the size of the pitchers is amazing.

Dontrelle Willis Released

Other Stuff

The Phillies released LHP Dontrelle Willis this morning after three extrmemly unimpressive Spring outings. Willis, 31, was projected to be the seocnd lefty out of the bullpen for the Phils.  This opens the door wide open for Rich Dubee favorite Jacob Diekman, who has had an impressive Spring thus far. Diekman, struggled initially at Reading during this first part of 2011, but came on very strong towards the end of last season.

I need your help, 2012 edition

Other Stuff

I wanted to write up a quick post here as the minor league season approaches. I hope each and every one of you here will read this and take it to heart.

When I started this site, I had no idea what it would turn in to. In the 5+ years this site has been around, its grown exponentially. Along with this growth, there have been challenged. I’ve changed jobs and have less time to write. I’ve brought in a bunch of really great resources who have helped me provide great content year round. We’ve gone from a handful of comments a day to…well, a lot more. People have contributed lots of great stuff here, both in the comments, via email, and in the way of guest posts. As I mentioned, I’m a very busy person, and I’m only one person. I do not have hours a day to police the comments section of posts. I don’t have time to yell at every person being offensive and disruptive. For the most part, and considering the internet message board medium as a whole, we have far fewer problems here than elsewhere. For those of you who have been here for a while, you know that my request of you is to simply ignore the people trying to inflame the discussions and get a rise out of you. The post tacked to the top of the site features a link to the FAQ and rules. You can find it by clicking here. I welcome any and all opinions, but I require civility at all times. At all times. If you continually buck the rules and insult others, you won’t be long for this place.

Now that I got that out of the way, here are the ways you can help this site improve in 2012:

* Go to games, make notes on our prospects, and send these reports to my via email. I will post them as “First Hand Scouting Reports” and everyone will be very grateful for what you give us.
* Take video.

9 players optioned/re-assigned to minor league camp

Spring Training 2012

Per this quick post, the following players have been re-assigned:

Dave Bush
Austin Hyatt
Pat Misch
JC Ramirez
BJ Rosenberg
Sebastian Valle
Cesar Hernandez
Harold Garcia
Tyson Gillies

No real surprises here. A lot of these guys will benefit from regular ABs/innings in minor league ST games instead of sitting on the bench for the MLB spring games.

Spring Training Chatter, Week of 12 March

Spring Training 2012

Here is your outpost for this week’s random spring training happenings. Get after it.